Smart Meters will have us paying more on our utility bills

BC Hydro to instal 1.8 million smart meter's by 2012

Why “Smart Meters”?  Well everything else aside they are, or shall I say “will be”, a revenue generating gravy train for BC Hydro. 

Here's a comment I posted on a story a couple of weeks ago:

They (BC Hydro) love to tar and paint those with health concerns as the 'tin-foil' hat crowd -- it keeps people distracted for what they are actually headed for. The ultimate goal of the smart meters is to charge us more money for power consumption and usage. We will end up with peak and low time rates ... a minimum charge plus a host of smorgasbord add-on fees.

BC Hydro has been in the news, in unfavorable stories, for month after month.  And what have the stories been about?  There have been numerous stories about smart meters and the possible health dangers, along with BIG proposed rate increases, but for me the stories that have caught my attention are the ones about the mounting and crushing debt that BC Hydro appears to be facing.

What other reason could there be for some of these recent headlines?

• Hydro deferring billions in debt, watchdog says
• Auditor general slams corporation for reporting phantom profits
• BC Hydro users on the hook for $2.2B: auditor general
• BC Hydro customers facing more rate hikes, expert warns
• Utility's bookkeeping methods will hurt development: critic

What other reason could there be for some of these recent stories?

BC Hydro Spend-Today, Pay-Tomorrow Ripped by Auditor General

… BC Hydro is using American-style accounting practices to defer billions of dollars of debt to future years … the government … is forcing BC Hydro further and further into red ink, and it will come back to haunt future rate payers …  BC Hydro is using smoke and mirrors to appear profitable, while actually pushing off costs into the future …

Governments BC Hydro recommendations draw ire of unions, praise from enviro group

… the Crown corporation is bound by what she calls an "insanely stupid self-sufficiency requirement…[in which] BC Hydro is forced to consider that every year is a low-water year."…. alongside restrictions that block the Crown corporation from expanding its own power-generating infrastructure … “They're on the hook for $30 billion in energy purchase agreements ..."

Okay … but let’s get back to smart meters.  The distraction of smart-meters does indeed deflect from the very real problems of mounting debt being heaped on BC Hydro.   BUT, there is also an issue of personal rights and freedoms for residents of BC.

A CBC story entitled, “BC Hydro on track for smart meter installation -- Utility moves ahead with plan despite opposition” says that they are, “… continuing with its plan to install more than 5,000 smart meters every day despite the vocal opposition from people with health and privacy concerns …” and that as of today (October 31), they will have already installed a quarter of a million of these so-called Smart Meters -- with nearly 2 million installed by the end of next year.

The story goes on to say that some customers have expressed concerns about the smart meters … “We've had a couple of thousand people indicate that they don't want a smart meter or have concerns about a smart meter. That represents about 0.15 per cent of our customer base".

So what is their solution???   Hydro says it is committed to working with concerned customers on an individual basis to find a solution, which may mean, in some cases, installing the meters further from homes.  "If they don't want us to install a smart meter, we're not installing a smart meter. We are setting those folks aside, and talking to them on a case by case basis,"

A story in the technology section of the Provinces newspaper however ends that offer as you can see in then following comments from BC Hydro Vice-President Greg Reimer to the CBC:

"If they don't want a smart meter, we're not installing a smart meter. We're setting those folks aside, and talking to them on a case-by-case basis.  B.C. Hydro's policy when we come across a customer who doesn't want a smart meter is that we will hold off installing at that time, so we can find out more about their concerns.  We will then work with the customer on an individual basis to address any concerns the customer has with the infrastructure upgrade. We will also present to the customer the opportunity to have the meter moved to a different location on their property. We will also explain that the smart meter is an integral part of our infrastructure upgrade and, at a certain point, the old meters simply won't work."

The story writer concludes, “… go ahead and refuse to take a smart meter. And then you can freeze in the dark when Hydro cuts your power off.”

I honestly don’t know if there is any kind of medical danger from the smart-meters being installed ... there is just too much conflicting information out there.  I do know however this has suited BC Hydro just fine because it distracts from what I, and some others, feel is a bigger issue.

Nearly a year ago I asked people who live in the interior region of the province, to tell me about some of the things they had concerns about when it came to government ministries, government policies, and crown corporations. 
 

Here is what one person had to say:

“But it will help Hydro too. No more manual meter checking. And it should be much easier to detect and catch electricity theft. Grow ops take note. So big Hydro will be watching. The business plan claims that once the smart meters are up and running, starting two years hence, they will produce benefits of $1.5 billion over the next 20 years. But you'll search through the business plan in vain for any studies to support that claim. Meanwhile we'll be paying up front through our utility bills. The full cost is estimated at $930 million, most of it for the meters, computer software, and installation.”

Just the other day, Garet Hindman (President of the Nanaimo BC Conservative Constituency Association) wrote his own piece on BC Hydro’s smart meter program, in which he said;
“There seems to be a real genuine concern surrounding a number of issue pertaining to these new devices regarding health related issues, privacy, potential for time use billing etc. And then of course the $1 Billion dollar price tag … Some people feel so strongly about these issues they have gone as far as to post notices warning BC Hydro that they do not give permission for these devices to be installed. However will BC Hydro and ultimately the BC Liberals listen and how far will these people take this fight?”

He also posed what I found to be a VERY interesting question … “Why is it when BC Hydro wants to move forward with a project such as the Site C Dam near Fort St. John and Hudson’s Hope that will benefit the entire province for years to come, they are required to do several years of environmental assessments and consultations with special interest groups. However with the smart meters, something that affects everyone in this province by the way of taxation, increased rates, privacy and health concerns, there is nothing?”

He concluded with the following; “… this stinks as much as the way the HST was implemented … the BC Liberals did not learn anything from the HST. I for one am tired of being told and not being asked what’s good for me and my family …”

BC Hydro is owned by the government of BC which means that we (the people of the province) in fact own BC Hydro.  No one asked us if we wanted the meters … and we still HAVE NOT been given any concrete reason why they are needed and being installed.  

In my year end wrap for 2010 I mentioned that BC Hydro had WAITED until the day before Christmas Eve before they filed a business plan on its $1 billion smart metering program.  That was a smart move, as the timing kept a close focus away from smart meters as visions of sugar plums filled our heads.

We have been told that the installation of smart meters is for our own good (?) and that they will help to reduce energy costs.  Here’s a question to consider though … perhaps that one billion dollar installation cost might have been better spent encouraging renovations to make our home more energy efficient.

Is there a health risk to smart meter?  Perhaps there will be, but I think we will need to wait to see on that.  Is there however a financial risk to your purse or wallet from smart meters?   On that one we won’t have to wait and see --- I can guarantee they will be.

A headline one week ago in the Vancouver Sun said; Liberals’ dumb response to smart-meter opposition could prove their Waterloo.   I for one think that it certainly will at least be a piece in creating their Waterloo.

I’m Alan Forseth in Kamloops; with the thoughts of one conservative on this round ball we call planet earth.